Jake Tapper Uses Deepfake of Himself to Sound Alarm About Possible AI Election Interference

October 4, 2024 @ 5:59 PM

Jake Tapper warned viewers on Friday of the dangers of convincing AI-generated videos… by using a deepfake of himself.

“Welcome back to ‘The Lead.’ I’m Jake Tapper,” the video, which was only later identified as a deepfake, began. “We are in an unprecedented era where technology has vastly outpaced the ability of the public to recognize deepfakes — and, even moreso, lapped lawmakers. Many of whom, frankly, seem unable to manage their email. Take, for example, what you’re watching right now. I’m actually not Jake. I’m a deepfake Jake — a deep Jake, if you will — created by comedian Danny Polishchuk, who has only been using AI for two weeks.”

The “Deep Fake Jake” continued, “The fact that I seem so real suggests that real mischief and serious damage could be done with this technology, were it to be so utilized in the U.S. as it has been for bad purposes abroad.”

Watch the “Deep Fake Jake” in the video above.

Tapper mentioned numerous recent deepfakes, including a robocall to New Hampshire voters — supposedly from Joe Biden — urging them not to vote in the February election. The man responsible for the faked Biden call, Steve Kramer, was indicted on criminal charges including 13 counts of voter suppression, a felony. He also faced 13 counts of impersonating a candidate, which is a misdemeanor.

The CNN anchor then brought on Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota to discuss a bill she is sponsoring with political rivals Josh Hawley and Susan Collins that would ban deepfakes.

“I think some of these ads and videos that actually show people in fake surroundings that are not satire, they actually would qualify as being banned,” Klobuchar said. “And that would make it simpler, because then you aren’t going to be able to stop that kind of behavior.” She added that a “number of platforms,” including OpenAI, have endorsed the bill.

Klobuchar continued, “[Political deepfakes] are making a claim on First Amendment political speech, but these ads are frauds. They show people doing things they are not doing. And if we don’t have some rules in place, pretty soon, they’re going to dominate the internet.”

She predicted that we’ll see more of them in the month before the presidential election. “You’re already starting to see it happen with completely fake videos and ads. And it’s now, we are going to be at the mercy of the platforms about whether they’re going to put labels on or take them down, and at the mercy of TV stations,” the senator said, adding that 18 states already have laws against misleading political ads.